Can you dehydrate raw hamburber

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

Trader Joe’s sells 96% lean ground beef. Cooked, it dehydrates well. I wonder, do I really have to cook it? I have the kind of dehydrator with a fan and temperature gauge. It dehydrates really fast. I have dehydrated raw fish in there successfully. I understand the issue with ground beef is that it could have bacteria, but if it dehydrates fast and sort of comes out cooked anyway, why wouldn’t it work to dehydrate it raw? Has anyone tried it?

[David Thomas]

Fish isn’t as stable, or as long-lasting as red meat.  I’ve only preserved fish or meat when I throw a lot of techniques at it, like 3 or 4 of:

• salt
• sugar
• smoke
• dehydration
• cooking
• canning (pasteurization and a perfect seal)
• freezing
  when I preserve fish. There are traditional techniques that only use, say, smoke and drying (native-smoked fish).  Or salt and dehydration (like salt cod).  But if it is thoroughly dehydrated, bacteria can’t live in it – they need some moisture, certainly to reproduce.  But why not cook it?  The weight will be reduced considerably, you’ll save cooking time and fuel on the trail, and you’ll be more sure of its shelf life.  For that matter, add some salt now because you’d add some in whatever recipe you use.  If you don’t have the time to cook it now, just throw it in the freezer and deal with it later.  I’d strongly suggest forming smaller parcels / patties out of it before freezing so it will be easier to select a quantity to process and quicker to defrost (says the guy who cut a large silver salmon in half with a Sawzall for Thanksgiving this year).

[James Marco]

Given the rather high heats needed to make sure most bacteria is absent from hamburger, I suspect that a good dryer will also legitimately cook the meat (though I have not tried it.) During dehydration, you would need to hold the heat at around 170-180F for at least a half hour. A lower temp, say around 160F will take around 3 hours I would guess. A paper lined tray might catch a lot of grease outflow, but this isn’t really a problem as long as it is packed densely with minimal air (vacuum sealed.) I think some companies also offer packets to remove oxygen from any remaining air. You may not kill all the bacteria (don’t try) but you can stop any subsequent growth.

Bacteria is not in and of itself, harmful. Almost ALL food is packaged with some. The toxins that the bacteria produce can be deadly, though. (Note: I am ignoring worms, etc.) Soo, the trick is to keep it from growing on your hamburger. I make my own hamburger so I understand what I am up against. The primary problems when I am making it are:

1. Temperature: I cool my meats down to around 32F (not really freezing for meat) after rinsing with ice water and place it in a cheap gallon baggie about 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 pounds per bag. This washes most surface bacteria off. During this process, before rinsing, I also remove all traces of fat, again this removes most surface bacteria. I do about 10 pounds at a time and package 3/4pound packets for the wife and I. Usually do two, three or four batches (5-10pounds.)
2. Dust and other infiltration. Mostly, this is where the bacteria comes from. Wash your machine between uses, cover and cool your bowels. Use a few tablespoons of bleach and cold water to dampen enough towels to cover everything as you work. Mostly, this is to limit exposure to any air “fallout.” This means WORK FAST, too. I also use a freshly scrubbed/Clorox’ed cutting board (cover it while grinding) and all internal parts (you only need to do this part once.) Some people object to Clorox, so you can substitute a heavy brine (salt and water) as a disinfectant. Be neat & always clean with a Clorox (or brine) dampened towel before each batch. Do it in batches, always put it back in the fridge, always cover it.
3. The main trouble with ground meats is that it will have a very large surface area/volume unlike bulk meats. Bacteria starts growing on the surface. Buying it from ANYWHERE means you trust the cut/grade of meat they use, you trust their methods, you trust their reliability for not stopping between to take a break. You trust their handling, and so on.  I would not trust purchased ground beef more than two days in the fridge…that is NOT saying how long it has been in the display case or in the back room cooler.

   Drying hamburger is a good idea. But, I think you would have better/safer results making it yourself rather than purchasing commercially prepared stuff.

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

When I dehydrated the fish it was ahi tuna chunks. It came out like fish jerky and rehydrates well without any cooking. It lasts on a backpacking trip. I store it long-term in the freezer.

[Ben H.]

most jerky recipes I have seen don’t call for cooking the meat beforehand.  As James notes the dehydrator should get to a high enough temperature to kill bacteria.  I thought the idea behind cooking the meat first was to remove fat that can go rancid.  I’m not sure whether or not starting with 96% beef has a low enough fat content to reduce the chance of it going rancid.  Of course storage and time frame of the dehydrated beef plays a big role.  Do you store it in the freezer then use it on a trip within a week?  Probably not a problem compared to shipping to a pickup point while you hike the PCT.

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